


The Fell Star's Heart

by AcePersona



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AKA my updates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enjoy!, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I have too many WIPs and sometimes forget to update, Inspired By The Many Animes I Watch, Kidnapping, Minor Background Ships, Multi, Sickness, Slow Burn, That's not the only thing that's slow, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, like really sloooooooow burn, no beta we die like organisms, this is a mess, update schedule? never heard of it.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24398467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcePersona/pseuds/AcePersona
Summary: Byleth gets sick. It goes downhill from there. If downhill was getting kidnapped by someone who wishes you dead, and you're dying from a deathly disease, that is.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *kicks door down, chaotically laughing* Welcome, to whoever discovers this! Get ready for a mostly-written-at-3-AM story by a whump-addicted writer! Though, honestly, I really hope you enjoy this first chapter. Have fun!

Byleth was talking to Jeralt in his quarters, feeling better after the dizzy spell that hit her earlier. She had grinned and just passed it off, but something wasn't right. Even Sothis could tell.

"Kid, c'mon," Jeralt said. "Can we at least just let you get checked out? Manuela won't do anything else."

Byleth shook her head again, eyes slightly determined. "No." She repeated. "I'm perfectly fine. Just got a bit dizzy. I'm feeling better now." It wasn't a complete lie. She was feeling better but definitely did not feel at her best. She looked at Sothis, who was floating by the almost empty bookshelf.

Sothis gave her a disapproving look. "Don't be dumb. You may be able to lie to him, but not to me. We're connected, I can feel what you feel. And this feeling is not considered healthy whatsoever." Byleth gave her as much as an annoyed look as she could.

"Kid?" Jeralt snapped his fingers in front of Byleth, bringing her attention back to him. "See, this is what I mean. You've been gazing off into nothing, and have overall seemed off. I've lived with you long enough to know that isn't normal for you." He looked at his kid with a hard face, but if you looked close enough, you could see the worry in his eyes.

"I'm fine, there's nothing wro-" She was cut off by another wave of dizziness hitting, causing her to blank out for a moment. But that moment was enough for Jeralt to see, and look at her with more worry in his eyes than before.

"See? This is what I mean." He looked at Byleth and decided to do an examination of her and what symptoms she had. Her eyes looked slightly glazed if you looked hard enough, and her normal palish skin had a reddish-pink tint to it. Not to mention she seemed to be shivering.

Byleth didn't even try to respond, she just sat down on the ground until another dizzy wave hit her, knocking her to the ground. She tried to sit back up, but Jeralt had already grabbed a heavy wool cloak, which he never had worn (it slowed him down too much) and wrapped it around his daughter.

Once the cloak was wrapped around her to his liking, he picked Byleth up and walked to Manuela's office, also known as the infirmary. Not to his surprise, she wasn't there. But he had no time to wait for her. He put a shivering, yet also warm, Byleth down on one of the beds, and speed walked out of the infirmary to find Manuela.

.*.*TIME SKIPPPP*.*.

He couldn't find her anywhere on the second floor, so he went down to the first. No luck. He walked out onto the actual monastery grounds, hunting for her. He got a few weird looks from the students, who weren't used to just seeing him roam around the grounds.

As he searched around the monastery, he just happened across Claude. He had heard a lot about the green-eyed boy from Byleth, who thought very highly of him. That's not to say she didn't think highly of the rest of her students as well. "Hey, Jeralt, sir? Have you seen Teach anywhere?" he asked, curious. "I haven't seen her all day, and she normally is exploring the monastery on Sundays."

"Ah, right Teach." Jeralt thought, "Byleth said that's what Claude called her. She seemed rather fond of the name."

He nodded. "Yes, I have seen Byleth today." He said and tried to continue walking without any more questions, but Claude seemed more set on it than he thought, following Jeralt.

"Oh, good! I was getting rather worried. Do you know where she is right now?" He questioned.

"Yes." came the gruff reply.

"Well, can you tell me where?"

"I can."

"Will you?" Claude asked hopefully.

"No."

They stopped talking after that, but Claude still followed him. Jeralt was in too much of a rush to find Manuela than to stop him, but he got an idea.

"Hey, kid? Seen Manuela anywhere?"

"Yes?" He asked, confused.

"Can you tell me where?" He asked, regaining hope.

"Nooo… Unless you tell me where Teach is." He responded with a grin.

He looked at the dark-haired kid with an annoyed look but decided to take the deal. Byleth needed help. "Fine. But I need to find Manuela. Quickly." He looked desperate.

Claude noticed this and nodded. "Okay. Follow me." He started walking towards the Cathedral.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" Jeralt thought.

Claude looked back at Jeralt curiously. "So why do you need Manuela?

Jeralt shrugged. "Something important, or else I wouldn't be out here." He responded shortly.

"Oh." He thought for a minute. "Would it happen to have anything to do with Teach?"

"Erm…" Jeralt faltered for a bit, confirming Claude's suspicions.

Claude sighed. "What happened to Teach this time?"

Jeralt looked at Claude. "You're smarter than I gave you credit for, kid. You help me find Manuela, you can come with me to see Byleth. Just… Know she is far from her best. Even I haven't even seen her like this before."

Claude nodded, accepting the warning. "I understand."

They reached the cathedral, where Manuela was singing with the choir. Jeralt started towards her, but Claude shook his head and ran swiftly through the crowd, grabbing Manuela. Then he brought her back to Jeralt and smirked.

"Now what was that- Oh. Hello, Jeralt! May I help you?" She said, looking at the large man in front of her.

"As a matter of fact, you can." He responded, relieved.

He spoke into her ear quietly, and Manuela's eyes widened. "Oh. That is rather bad. I guess I should do a full examination." She summoned her white magic and used an extra-large Warp, taking them all to the infirmary.

There lay a flushed, trembling Byleth, looking so small covered in the huge wool cloak. Manuela looked at the blue-haired professor with sympathy, while Claude looked at his professor, who was more like a friend to him. She was a few months older than him at most, but possibly younger than him.

He saw now why Jeralt was in such a rush. It clearly wasn't an overreaction, maybe an underreaction. She was shivering, despite sweating hard and being covered in a ginormous wool coat. Her face was flushed, and her eyes glazed over completely. The former mercenary was curled up, taking a defensive position.

"That's good," Jeralt noted mentally, "She still thinks rationally, even when sick. I shouldn't be surprised, seeing as she had it drilled into her…"

Manuela examined the normally so strong professor quickly, wanting to figure out what was wrong. She made small, sympathetic noises whenever Byleth curled in defensively. Jeralt knew that Byleth has never quite trusted doctors of any sort, not liking all their pointed tools and poking and prodding.

But she just sat there and bore it. Fortunately, it didn't take long. After a quick examination, mostly just with her eyes, Manuela realized what all the symptoms pointed to.

She sighed. "Unfortunately, our dear professor here has Wyvern Fever."

Jeralt tilted his head. He had heard of it but didn't quite know what it was. Claude, on the other hand, knew full well what it was.

"Oh, goddess, Teach... " He muttered. "One of us should've noticed this before it got worse…" He shook his head.

Jeralt still looked mildly confused. "Wha-?"

Manuela looked over at the Captain. "Wyvern Fever. The worst kind of fever you can get. It's odd though. The poison for it is only found in Almyra, and It is not contagious. It lies dormant for a bit, but the patient can get a few signs of it before it fully strikes. Dizziness, aches, shivering… But it seemed like the Professor here attempted to tough it out."

Claude looked at his teacher, and said, "Oh, c'mon Teach! None of us would've minded if you took a couple of sick days! Especially for something like this! You wouldn't seem weak to us!"

Byleth looked over to Claude and gave a weak grin. "S-sorry… Didn't think i-it'd get t-this bad…"

Claude sighed. "Still making wisecracks, even when seeming nearly dead. But why would someone pay so much money to get poison like this from Almyra? And why'd they go for you?"

Her face fell. "Perhaps they f-figured it out o-or knew s-somehow... " She muttered.

"Knew what?" Jeralt looked down at his daughter.

"N-nothing…" she whispered. "It might h-have been b-because of the C-Crest of Flames or S-Sword of The Creator…"

Jeralt nodded. It was an acceptable answer. But Claude looked sceptically at the Teacher of the Golden Deer. "She was thinking of something else before she thought that…"

He decided to let it be for then. She wouldn't be able to answer any of his questions very well currently. He walked to the closed door of the infirmary before he turned back to Jeralt and Manuela.

"What about this am I allowed to tell the rest of the class?" He asked.

Jeralt looked to Manuela, who thought for a moment. "You are allowed to tell them that your teacher is suffering from a certain sickness and cannot currently teach them. But do not tell them what she is suffering from. I don't need an entire class barging in here to see her. Just tell them it is serious."

He nodded and walked out of the door, looking for the closest person to tell so they could help spread the word. Which happened to be Leonie.

Claude walked over to his fellow Golden Deer. "Leonie!" He called over to her.

"Oh, hey, Claude. Hey, have you seen Captain Jeralt at all today? I was hoping to ask him some questions about my solo training. You see, he had a lot of practice, so maybe he'd have some tips." She replied, admiration in her eyes when she said 'Jeralt'.

"Well, I have, but he's rather busy currently. Like sick busy." He replied.

"Captain Jeralt is sick?" She asked, confused.

"Not quite, close though." He waited for her to figure it out.

"The professor is sick?" She guessed next, and Claude nodded.

"Well, how badly?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Mmm… Pretty badly… It's kind of worrying. The disease she has has been known to kill people. But Teach is strong! She'll make it!"

"Ah…" She thought for a moment about diseases like that. She remembered hearing something about the Professor having dizzy spells in the past few days, but passing them off. That narrowed more down. And if she thought hard enough, Leonie remembered that her eyes got glazed at times, and she would catch her shivering at times. "It wouldn't happen to be Wyvern Fever, would it?"

Claude faltered. "Erm…"

"Ok. So yes. That's a problem. I'll spread the word to get help for her!" She promised and ran off to go find others.

"Leonie, wait!" He cried, but she was out of earshot. "Ah, I am in so much trouble…"

.*.*WOW ANOTHER TIME SKIP*.*.

Leonie returned with Marianne and Mercedes, the two best white magic users, so both clearly knew Heal. Claude sighed.

"Nobody was supposed to know about Teach's actual disease. Manuela didn't want an entire house barging in." Claude said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, it's not an entire house, is it? Just the best healers of the house." She countered. Marianne blushed at the compliment, and Mercedes kept a blank look.

"Fine. But if Manuela says out, I'd suggest you get out before the infirmary has a few more injured students."

Leonie nodded. "We'll be quick."

Marianne looked at Claude with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry… I didn't know I wasn't supposed to come…"

Claude looked at her and smiled. "It's fine. I guess Teach needs as much help as she can get, so thanks for coming."

"Oh. Ok… Well, I should probably go now…" Marianne gestured to Leonie and Mercedes nearly all the way down the hall, close to the infirmary.

"Yeah. I'll come with you guys. I can't help wanting to check on Teach again." He commented sheepishly. Marianne nodded sweetly and hurried off down the hall, Claude in tow.

Once they finally reached the Infirmary's door, it was oddly quiet inside. Leonie and Mercedes had waited up for them, and all together opened the door.

Leonie was the first to see the inside, and gasped, running in. Claude shrugged, knowing that was an appropriate reaction for the situation, and peeked in, deciding that was better than just running in.

"Oh. Wow. Not what I was expecting…" He said, only a small tinge of his nervousness showing through his voice. Jeralt and Manuela were lying on the ground, unconscious.

Claude walked in slowly, examining the room for Byleth. It was possible she just lashed out at them, thinking they were enemies. But a quick look was enough to dash his hopes.

Jeralt was waking up though, groaning. "Wha…"

Leonie looked relieved. "Captain Jeralt!"

Claude sighed in relief but still was panicked internally at the fact Teach was missing. "Jeralt, sir, do you remember what happened?"

"Oh. It's you again. With some company, it seems." He looked around, gaze lingering on Claude for longer than the others. He thought for a moment, and his eyes widened drastically. "Wait, that's right! That dumb fool. Next time I see him, he'll regret everything he did." He growled.

"So you do remember?" Claude asked.

"Yes, and I regret it." He said, anger in his voice.

"Well, does it have something to do with Teach not being here?" Claude pressed.

"That… He took Byleth…! That's right. We need to get her back." Jeralt said, standing up quickly, standing firm.

"Wait, you were just knocked out, and now you want to go on a rescue mission for Teach, who was kidnapped by who-knows-who? I mean, I understand the urge, but we need to do some research on what we're up against." Claude commented.

"You're right. But they took Byleth at her weakest. What a cowardly thing to do." He said with a slight growl in his voice.

"I agree," said Claude, instincts telling him to go hunt down Byleth before she gets worse. He quickly shook his head. "But we need to have as many facts as we can before we go. So what do you remember?"

Jeralt got a thoughtful look on his face. "I know it was a male and he used magic. His voice sounded old, and if I recall correctly, he called Byleth, 'Fell Star'."

Claude scratched his head, "I don't know anything about who it could be…" He turned to his companions to see if they had any idea.

Leonie shrugged. "The only suspicious thing I've heard about recently was Tomas going missing." Marianne and Mercedes just nodded at that.

"Hm…" Jeralt muttered thoughtfully. "Tomas could be a suspect, but he's never been any sort of suspicious before, and his magic skills didn't seem that good. But anyone could be a suspect currently."

"Unfortunately, that is true," Claude said. "But I swear as the heir to House Reigan, leading house of the Leicester Alliance, that I was not responsible, and will do everything in my power to bring Teach back."

Similar promises and swears were stated by his company.

Jeralt nodded. "I appreciate it. Seeing as this has happened, we should notify your class and other useful people we may need for a rescue mission. Screw it, we should just notify the monastery. We will need as many hands as we can on this mission."

Claude nodded quickly, "True. I'll notify the Golden Deer House, Mercedes the Blue Lion House, Leonie, have fun with the Black Eagles," he winked, knowing they weren't the easiest crowd, "and Marriane should notify Rhea." He finished.

"Sounds good." Jeralt said, despite being uncomfortable when it involves Rhea.

The group nodded, and they all ran out the door to notify their assigned people/person. Jeralt shook his head.

"Byleth, I will never understand how you work." He said with a small smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry guys! I got caught up with my other WIPs and forgot to update this one. To make it worse, this one is pretty short. I'm really sorry for the long wait and the shortness of this, but I hope you can enjoy it anyway.

Byleth awoke with a throbbing pain in the back of her head. “Urg…” She tried to urge her weak body up, but even if she did succeed, she would be stopped by the chains holding her. The professor fell back to the ground, already exhausted from the slightest exertion.

“Ah, the all-powerful Fell Star has finally awakened,” said a raspy voice coming from the darkness.

“Who’s t-there?” Byleth asked weakly, staring into the darkness for any hint of who could be hiding in the shadows.

“Ah, that’s not important currently. The important thing here is you.” He said, and Byleth could’ve groaned.

But she settled for, “W-what do y-you mean…?”

“I’m sure you know already, but I don’t see the harm in explaining. You see, Fell Star, you have a connection to the goddess, Sothis. And that may be a problem for our future plans. So, logically, it makes sense to get rid of you at your weakest. Which one of ours helped cause.” He responded, and you could hear the grin in his voice.

Byleth attempted a confused look, “What exactly do y-you mean?”

“I mean what I say, and you know exactly what’s going on, do not pretend you do not. I’ve had many chances to observe you.” He said, still grinning.

“How…?” Byleth asked, thoughts running through her foggy head. “Wait… Don’t tell me.”

“Ah, you figured it out,” She could hear some magic, and heard and cane clicking towards her. The voice spoke again but in a different, kinder sounding voice this time. “Nobody would ever suspect a kind, helpful, old librarian.”

Byleth’s eyes widened, and the man stepped into the light, in the form of Tomas. “T-Tomas? But… You never did anything suspicious.”

“That’s exactly the point, but dear child, I am not the real Tomas.” He transformed into a pale old man with one pitch-black eye. “My real name is Solon.”

Byleth shook her head, “How c-could I be so d-dumb…? The threat w-was right in front of m-me the whole time…?”

“Correct, Fell Star.” He said with a smirk.  
Sothis decided to take this time to show herself to Byleth. “This is certainly not good.” She said, composure calm, but a hint of panic in her voice.

“No kidding,” Byleth muttered.

“What was that?” Solon asked, suspicious.

“Nothing, I w-was just thinking…” She said quietly.

“Oh, don’t worry about me killing you.” He said, and he smirked. “One more thing about Wyvern Fever. If left untreated, it will kill the victim.” On that note, he turned and walked away.

Sothis sighed. “I’d love to blame you for this, but in any situation, we likely would have gotten captured. We can’t even use Divine Pulse, without exhausting you to the point of death. The best thing we can do now is pray and wait.”

Byleth nodded tiredly, the energy she had used already exhausting her.

“You can sleep. I won’t judge you, this is quite a lot.” Sothis said, to which Byleth did not respond, already asleep.

“You’ll make it. Even without me backing you up, you’re strong enough to handle this.” Sothis said quietly, and faded away again, leaving the room nearly entirely black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there we are. I'll hopefully see you all soon with a new chapter! If I don't get caught up again in my WIPs and now Xenoblade Chronicles, which I got just yesterday .u.
> 
> Hope you all are doing well! Sorry again. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you who have read this. It really means the world to me, especially since this is one of my... less popular fics that's all over the place. Didn't mean to forget to update. For the millionth time. Really sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy. Or don't. Up to you.

Claude paced the library, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What if…? No, that wouldn’t make sense… C’mon Claude, get it together!” He had helped with interviews of every student and staff at the monastery. With the exception of Tomas, of course.

Hilda walked into the library. “Claude, it’s time for you to go to bed. It’s nearly midnight. You haven’t even eaten!”

“Hm?” He looked to the plates on a table next to him, each one with different food on it. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’ve been a bit busy.” He grinned.

“Look, Claude, the professor is strong. She can last for a bit.” Hilda sighed.

“A bit may not be enough for her to survive! For all we know, she could be dead!” He almost yelled. 

Hilda looked hurt. “I know, but the best we can do is stay healthy and fit for when the time comes to rescue her.” She said quietly, which was odd from her.

“Sorry, Hilda. You’re right.” He apologized.

“As always. Now eat and get some sleep.” Hilda turned and walked out of the library.

Claude sighed, and sat down at one of the tables, picking at the food. “I wonder if Teach is getting food where she’s at. I’m sure she’d want us to stay healthy, I’d bet she’d even force us to eat and go to sleep at a reasonable time. Despite her basically never doing that."

He set his head on the table, and unintentionally fell asleep, dreaming about a peaceful memory with Byleth.

* * *

Claude had walked out of his quarters, unable to sleep for some odd reason. He walked to the front of the dining hall, hoping to get a good view of the fishing lake below.

Once he got there, he noticed he wasn’t alone, Byleth sitting on the stairs to the dining hall, looking at the stars.

Sitting next to her, Claude kept silent and he gazed at the stars with the blue-haired professor.

They sat in silence for many minutes, until finally, Byleth spoke up. “You should be sleeping.” She said quietly, her eyes still focused on the stars.

“You should be too.” Claude countered.

“Mm, I should, but I couldn’t.” She said, seemingly lost in her thought and the stars above.

“Well, why?” Claude asked curiously.

“Foggy memories. And  _ them _ ...” She said, quieter when she said ‘them’.

“Who’s them?”

“The many I mercilessly slaughtered. Many had family, partners, and even children. Oh, goddess, the lives I’ve taken are innumerable… Yet I’m so constantly rewarded. I don’t deserve what I have.” She said, sadness in her voice.

“Everyone’s done something they regret.” Claude quietly said.

“But none of them have done what I’ve done, witnessed what I witnessed, and still be rewarded for everything they’ve done. It’s not right.” She tore her gaze away from the stars and looked into Claude’s eyes. “Why do they haunt me? I was supposed to be emotionless, born without a beating heart. Why do I feel the way I do?” She pleaded, wanting, no,  **needing** , answers.

Claude looked into her eyes and put on a thoughtful look. “You’ve seen things nobody deserves to see, and have put up with so many hardships that you deserve so much. You’ve made mistakes, but they don’t define you. The people you’ve fought, they knew what they signed up for. They knew every battle they went into, they were risking everything. Those people, they brought it upon themselves.”

He took a breath and continued. “You may have been born without a beating heart, but that does not define you either. You are strong, you can break past that challenge and let yourself feel. Until then, I can promise that the Golden Deers will back you up.” He nodded. “You got it, Teach?”

Byleth nodded. “Thank you, Claude. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I didn’t have you and the Golden Deer.”

“Well, probably nothing good!” He winked. “But trust me, you should probably get some sleep. You look…”

“Terrible?” she asked.

“Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Byleth stood up.” Thanks again, Claude.”

“Anytime, Teach.” He responded.

* * *

Claude awoke from his peaceful dream by being gently shaken.

“Hmph…” He grunted, trying to fall back asleep.

The shaking continued, getting more vigorous. “C’mon, wake up, Claude.”

Claude blinked and sat up, looking over at the horrendous person who woke him up. “What do you need, Leonie?”

“Well, mainly for you to wake up, but I also need to come to the Infirmary with the rest of the Golden Deer (which includes Bernadetta, Ashe, Linhardt, Caspar, and Mercedes. Oh, and Sylvain. Perhaps Dorthea if she becomes useful.) as they may have found a clue referring to the captor of the professor.”

Claude jolted up, suddenly very awake. “What?”

“Well, that woke you up.” Leonie said, “There may have been a clue found hinting at our professor’s captor.” She said with a slight chuckle in her voice.

“Well, let’s go then!” Claude stood up swiftly, looking slightly ruffled.

“Fine, fine.” They speed-walked out of the library to the infirmary only about a hallway away.

When they arrived at the Infirmary, accompanied by the other Golden Deer and it’s student allies, Jeralt and Alois were already there, looking around.

Jeralt noticed them first. “Ah. You all have arrived. Good job, Leonie, on gathering them all.”

Leonie grinned. “Anytime, sir.”

Jeralt nodded. “So who all knows why they’re here?” Everyone rose their hands, except for Linhardt.

“Leonie probably told me… But I forgot.” Linhardt said. Marianne looked over and whispered to him. “Oh, yes. I remember now.”

Jeralt nodded. “Just be warned. The conclusion you come to is likely the same as ours and may be disturbing to those who were close to them.”

Everyone nodded, Ashe, Marriane, and Claude nodding slightly slower than the rest, having some suspicions. 

“You all have accepted the risks? Good. We need all the help we can get to fight them. Clue one. The magic they used. Dark Magic. Well rehearsed Dark Magic at that. The spell used is a forgotten one, only found in the forbidden part of the Monastery Library. Next, the sounds heard by me and Manuela before the… Yeah. It sounded like a cane. Lastly the fabric that got caught on the broken window.” He held up a scrap of white fabric with a black highlight.

“You kids are smart, I’m sure you can figure it out from here.” Most nodded, but others who had never met the man looked confused.

“But why would Tomas do that? I can’t believe he would!” said Mercedes.

Claude shook his head. “Everyone can be a threat. We should’ve been more aware. But now…” His eyes filled to the brim with determination and barely hidden anger. “He will pay.”

“That's right! We’ll get the professor back!” cheered Hilda, throwing her fist in the air, encouraging the other people in the room.

“That’s right!”, “We won’t fail!”, and “Woohoo!” were cried out among many of the people inhabiting the infirmary. Claude stayed silent, oddly enough, running strategies through his head. 

Hilda nudged him. “What’s wrong, Claude?”

“Hm? Oh, just thinking. I’m not going to celebrate ‘till we get Teach back, which will hopefully be soon.” He said, irritated at the man he once called a friend.

“We will. For sure,” said Hilda, oddly serious.

Jeralt looked over the ragtag bunch his daughter was teaching. There was an odd connection between all of them, and they all seemed to care about Byleth so much. He gave a small smile, proud. Despite her being approximately the same age as them, with some other and other younger, she had built a strong bond throughout each of the people in front of him.

His gaze flickered over to Claude, their house’s leader. He seemed lost in his thoughts, a slight frown on his face. “Claude seems to care a lot. Seems pretty protective of her.” He remembered looking at Claude’s file not long after Byleth chose his house.

“It said he was 19, right? Byleth is about that age, I think. It’s hard to remember, but it’d certainly make sense. She is nothing younger than 18, though. That’s for certain. Since they’re such a similar age, they probably got on great. So seeing as he’s her friend, I shouldn’t be surprised by how protective he is.” Jeralt scanned the room again.

“Byleth made a good choice. They may be a ragtag bunch, but they work together nearly flawlessly. They’ll save her. I know it.” He thought, absolutely sure of himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are. HOPEFULLY, I'll remember to post next week, and not focus on all my other ones. Thank you again for those who have been sticking around for this mess. Even if you've just read this even. Best wishes to all of you!


End file.
